We're Not Alone
by Scrylethia
Summary: Thirty years after Saya enters her long sleep, she hasn't woken up. Another twenty years pass. And another. Red Shield finally declares it; Saya will never wake. And if she can never live her life again, Haji doesn't want to either. Rated T to be safe. (I will update every three days if you guys so wish)
1. Chapter 1

"If she doesn't wake within the next five years, it's likely she will never wake again. Even if Saya remains alive, after sleeping for so much longer than her body is used to, her heart may lose its ability to function normally."

That was what the next generation of Red Shield scientists said after fifty years of Saya's long sleep. Already it had spanned for nearly twice as long as expected since she had killed Diva. The twins, Natsuko and Fuyuko, were fully grown, and Kai's hair was already going gray. Lulu still hadn't aged a day. All of them had gotten much closer to Haji over the years, and they were about as happy as they could be waiting for Saya to wake up, even though it was taking so much longer than usual.

Twenty years passed, and she still hadn't woken. They couldn't figure out why her sleep was lasting so long, but from the little information Red Shield was able to gather, they had become completely certain she would sleep forever.

The twins took it the easiest; they had never met their Aunt Saya, so even though it saddened them greatly to know they would never get to meet her, they weren't as distraught as the others. Lulu mourned longer than they did; for her, this meant the loss of a true friend, and one of the only friends she had left since her time with the rest of the Schiff.

Haji's grief was too great to describe. Everyone had noticed the toll that each year of Saya's sleep had taken on him from the beginning, but they were starting to think he had gone completely insane. Since the forty year mark he had refused to leave her side for anything.

After fifty years he stopped talking, save for one-word answers to questions, and after they said Saya might never wake up, he stopped even that. He only grew worse with each passing day. Five years passed, and he might as well have been a ghost. The twins and Lulu tried to reassure him, hoping for any response at all, any sign that he could even hear them, but to no avail. It wasn't until Red Sheild was positive Saya's sleep would last forever that he stopped eating.

"Haji, please," Natsuko pleaded, "You have to eat something. Anything. It doesn't have to be a lot, but _something,_ please!"

"Wouldn't you at least play us a song on the cello? You haven't played in so long," Fuyuko pitched in, then added quickly, "I bet Saya would like it too. Even though she's asleep. They say people who are sleeping, or in a coma, can still hear- like they absorb it somehow. I bet Saya misses hearing that song."

She sounds triumphant, as if she's finally won, but Haji still won't respond. It's like he didn't even hear her. But then, it's always like that with him nowadays. All he ever does is sit just inside the entrance of the grave where Saya sleeps, staring with dull, empty eyes in Saya's direction.

"Saya wouldn't want this for you," Lulu adds forlornly. She's tried that argument before- it means more coming from her than from either of the twins, because they had never met Saya. Kai came to visit the grave with them every now and then, but by now he was in his late 90s, and his visits had become less and less frequent.

"Look," Natsuko knelt beside Haji, reaching her hand rather nervously toward his, "Your hands are shaking." She laid his fingers over his so lightly they might have been snowflakes, then pulled away quickly, sighing. Nothing any of them said or did ever won a response from him.

Fuyuko grabbed one of her blue-eyed twin's hands and one of Lulu's, and dragged them a few meters backwards, away from Haji. She knew he wouldn't listen even if they screamed right into his ear, and that if he wanted to listen he would still hear them quite easily; but she still tried her best to act normally around him, so she addressed her companions in a whisper, as if he might overhear them otherwise.

"We have to do something. Mourning is fine, and being miserable is fine, and even refusing to speak or play or move is fine, but if he keeps starving himself like this Haji will die. I think…" She took a long breath, then rephrased, "I _know_ that that's what he wants, but we can't allow it."

"So you think we should force him to eat?" Lulu whispered in reply, contemplating. Not that she hadn't considered it before- she just hadn't really dwelled on it. In reality, she realized, it was probably just because she hadn't wanted to admit to herself that her friend was that bad off.

"We have to," Fuyuko continued urgently, "It's the only-"

"No." Natsuko interrupted, her voice dark and solemn, but firm, "We can't."

"You want us to just let him die?" Fuyuko was genuinely surprised at her twin's objection.

"There's nothing we can do," She insisted, "He wouldn't eat, even if we tried to force it. And… I'm not sure we have a right to, anyway. Think about it; for his whole life, the only thing he ever cared about was Aunt Saya. He exists only for her. She had other things to live for- a purpose of her own, and later even a family- but his only reason for anything was her, and her happiness. If Aunt Saya is going to sleep forever… I think… He wants to sleep with her. And if that's really how he feels…" She faltered for a moment, "We can't stop him. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. He just won't let anything keep him from her."

"But a lot has changed for him," Lulu reentered the debate with her own insistence, "Even if Saya is asleep, he has us, his friends. He can make something of his life. We just have to make him see that there's hope, and-"

Their conversation was stopped short by a single word- one voice, raspy, weak, and small, that they wouldn't have heard at all if they weren't so desperate for it.

"S-Saya…" For the first time in decades, Haji had finally spoken. All three girls whirled around and stared, wide-eyed, at the spectacle they were all certain they would never see. Saya's cocoon was broken open, the Queen herself crawling slowly- following primitive instinct alone- towards her Chevalier.

The girls had been too absorbed in their argument to hear Saya's scratching as she broke out of her old Chiropteran bed. Now, impossibly, she was very much awake, though she still had one task to accomplish before she could fully recover.

"Wait, don't-" Natsuko yelled aloud, but too late; her aunt had already sunk her teeth into Haji's neck, and she fed eagerly, drawing out what little blood he had left. In a matter of seconds, her eyes faded from brilliant scarlet to soft brown, and she pulled away from him.

"Saya…" he whispered one last time, so softly that it was barely audible even to Chiropteran ears. Just as recognition began to flood Saya's eyes, he closed his, letting his head fall back against the wall behind him.

"…Haji?" She called his name gently, her voice wavering slightly, but he didn't respond.

_**Author's Note: Greetings, dear readers! Warning: this is going to be a very angsty fic, and in all the stories I've ever written or even dreamt up there has never been a happy ending. If there's ever going to be one that breaks the rule, however, it's probably going to be this. So stick around, and… Who knows where this will end up? Please feel free to criticize, compliment, rant, or even eat internet pastries in a review! And I am a busy writer, so just to be safe- if you are in any way interested in the story and I haven't updated in three days or longer, please leave me a note. If I know people want a new chapter, I'll get one out quickly, regardless of how busy I am. Lastly, no matter what kind of day you're having… Smile for me? Fairfarren all!**_


	2. I'm Fine

"…Haji?" She called his name gently, her voice wavering slightly, but he didn't respond. More memories came flooding back to her; a rainy night at the Metropolitan Opera, where he begged her to live. And then… The balcony collapsing on top of him, just before the whole place blew up.

Tears pricked Saya's eyes, and she stared straight ahead without seeing. She didn't notice his closed eyes, the eerie stillness of his body, his shallow breaths, or the way his head had fallen back against the wall.

"You're alive," she whispered, as if in awe, stuck in her trance of remembering. "How?" He still didn't answer her. "Haji?" she prompted, breaking out of her nostalgia, and finally _saw_ him for the first time. "Haji!" she gasped, lightly shaking his shoulders, only to be stopped by a hand on her own shoulder.

She looked up, her eyes wet with tears threatening to spill over, and met Fuyuko's piercing blue gaze. "Aunt Saya," she said, sounding much calmer than she felt, "Please stop. Shaking him isn't going to help."

"Are you…" Saya took a moment to remember the names of Diva and Riku's daughters. "Fuyuko?" Her niece nodded once. "And then you must be," she continued, looking over to her sister, "Hatsuko?"

"Yes," the brown-eyed girl responded, nodding so slightly Saya wondered if she might have imagined it, then added quickly, "I'll go get help-"

"No, I'll go," Lulu interrupted, "I'm faster." For a moment, Hatsuko's eyes flashed in silent protest, but it passed just as quickly as it had appeared.

"Yes, you're right." Fuyuko agreed in an even tone.

"Lulu… Thank you," Saya added, both concern and gratitude evident in her voice and eyes, just before her dear friend, the last of the Schiff, disappeared in a haze of blue. She turned her focus back to Haji and brushed a stray hair out of his face, noting that it had grown several inches since she'd slept. It struck her as odd right away; he hadn't changed his hair in centuries.

_Haji… He always used to brush your bangs out of your face, y'know?_ She smiled at the memory of Kai cutting her hair, and realized he would have to cut it again once she saw to Haji. It amazed her how much it had grown during her 30 year sleep. That when they still thought Haji was dead. She still had to wonder how on Earth he had survived.

"What happened to him?" Saya asked, her voice tinged with pain, and she felt tears pricking at her eyes again. Hatsuko suddenly found something very interesting to stare at on the ground, and Saya could almost smell her guilt. Fuyuko remained composed, as she had the entire time, and her eyes were calm as she addressed Saya.

"He was starving himself," she said coolly, "Because he thought you wouldn't wake."

"What?" Saya gasped, her eyes widening, "Why would he think that?"

Fuyuko took a breath, squeezing her eyes shut, and then continued as calmly as she started, though this time Saya could hear sympathy in her voice. "Aunt Saya, you slept for a little over seventy years."

This drew another gasp from Saya, but she kept going, "After 55 years, the Red Shield's best scientists said you would never wake again; that after so long, your heart wouldn't be able to support a conscious state. It was hard on all of us, but Haji- first he stopped speaking. Then, he wouldn't leave your side, even to get you new roses. He used to bring you a new one every day."

Saya's breath hitched.

"Eventually, he stopped moving altogether. He didn't play the cello anymore. We brought him packets of blood, and he drank them while we were gone every night, but eventually he stopped even that."

"But why… Why would he do that?" Saya muttered, as if she didn't know the answer- or maybe, she just didn't want to believe it.

"Aunt Saya," the look Fuyuko gave her was almost scolding, as if to say, 'Oh, come on,' with her eyes. But she had never been one for sarcasm, so she continued her explanation. "Do you have any idea how much he loves you?" She said it as more of a statement than a question. "You are his reason for being."

_She is my reason for being! _The words echoed in Saya's mind, in Haji's own voice; that was what he had said to Solomon when he kidnapped her, and Haji fought with him on the rooftops of New York City to get her back.

"Haji could never live without you," Hatsuko pitched in for the first time, her voice brimming with sorrow. She still didn't lift her eyes from the ground. "He would rather die. And… Starving himself was the only way he knew how to, without leaving you."

"When you woke up, your first instinct was to take his blood- and that wasn't your fault," Fuyuko continued, putting stress on 'not your fault', "But he was weak to begin with; to be honest, I don't think he would have even been capable of standing, if he had wanted to." She closed her eyes for a moment- one small crack in her composure. "Your feeding must have pushed him over the edge."

"But I-" Saya cut herself off, her dreams of a new, happy life quickly being overridden by memories of the past. "No," she whispered, mostly to herself, "That's not-" She stopped herself before saying 'fair'. Since when had fair ever been part of the equation?

About an hour later Saya found herself seated next to her Chevalier as he laid, motionless, on a bed that reminded her painfully of Riku's from so long ago. Some Red Shield scientists told her Haji was in a coma, which she was having a great deal of trouble making herself believe.

She'd seen him nearly dead too many times to count, but he was always back on his feet within minutes thanks to his Chiropteran blood. It was so- strange? Unusual? Inconceivable? Surely a combination of all three- to see him so weak and vulnerable.

"Aunt Saya?" Hatsuko stood in the doorway, her voice soft and careful, as if she was approaching a wild animal. "Are you all right?"

Saya shook her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and faked a smile for her niece. "I'm fine," she lied, but a tear rolled down her cheek, betraying her.

She remembered the last time that had happened; she was walking with Riku and Haji in Paris, and guilt over Irene was clouding her mind. She gave Riku a smile and a stray tear called her out on it, and before she could pull away Haji had his arms around her, and she was crying into his shoulder. For that one moment, during the war, she had felt safe and comfortable.

It wasn't like Solomon's promises of beautiful islands, and a peaceful life in a world undiscovered, because that had only made her more aware of the war. It was like he was taunting her with a dream she couldn't have, even though that wasn't his intention.

He had never properly understood her. Come to think of it, she didn't even know why he had fallen in love with her. They had danced together, once, and because of… What were his exact words… 'good chemistry', he decided he loved her?

She didn't doubt his feelings; after all, he had given up everything to be with her, but Haji's confession had been so much more _real_. He had always been there for her, and always would be. That is, _if _he ever woke up…

"He just… Suffered so much, and it was always for me," She confessed, more to satisfy herself than her niece, "I took him for granted, but…" She choked on a sob. "What if he dies?"

"He won't," Fuyuko said confidently, as if it was a statement of fact. "You're awake now, so he'll wake up too." Saya hadn't noticed her come in, but she really wanted to believe her niece.

"Do you think this was how Haji felt, inside, all that time he waited for you to wake up?" Hatsuko wondered aloud, without thinking; then quickly realized her mistake. "I'm sorry-" she said quickly, backing up out of the room, "I'll go…" She practically ran away, feeling guilty and helpless, and she could hear Saya's sobs fading into the distance.

_**Author's Note: Hello, readers! I see you hiding over there! *stares at favoriters/followers* Thank you so much for supporting the story! I hate it when authors require reviews, but I'm going to **_**ask **_**for them, because they make the story progress faster and improve the quality. I really would love to know what you think! What do you like/dislike? Who would you like to see more or less of? Where do you think the story is headed? Lastly: Live for today, look forward to tomorrow, and don't forget to smile. Thanks for reading!**_


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